The Circus; an international art

For many people young and old, the word circus evokes memories of a fantastic world of thrills and laughter, of the hilarious antics of colourfully costumed clowns, the dexterity of the jugglers, the agility and splitsecond timing of the acrobats, tightrope walkers with nerves of steel. But perhaps because in some languages the word has pejorative overtones the circus is all too often considered as a minor form of show business and its claims to an artistic pedigree are disdained.

Yet the circus is an art in its own right, a many-faceted art with its own history and originality. Everyone who has ever watched from a ringside seat knows that the circus, unlike some other forms of art and entertainment, is based not on illusion but on risk. At the circus there is, literally, no room for concealment ; the preparations for each number take place before our eyes.

The circus as we know it today originated in eighteenth-century England as an offshoot of the art of horsemanship. Later its range widened to include a broad variety of disciplines and complex forms of dramatic and lyrical expression . The poetry of the circus and the symbolic image of the clown captivated and inspired painters and writers. At the same time the circus became an international art as artistes from different countries learned from each other and performed together beneath the Big Top.

But the universality of the circus is also, and perhaps above all, due to its fraternal nature. There is no fighting in the circus ring except for laughter; no victims, except those caused by accident. Laughter, the language of the circus, is universal, and so are the emotions of admiration and trepidation to which it moves the audience.

This issue of The UNESCO Courier is thus devoted to a supremely human art. It does not cover all the crafts and disciplines of the sawdust ring, nor does it analyse the problems which the circus is facing today. Instead it describes the conditions in which the modern circus was born and seeks to explain its undying popularity and eternal youth.

Discover this issue. Download the PDF.